Yesterday I was demonstrating the electrically adjustable screen on my Forza to one of my neighbours. He said ' You mean you can ride with the screen fully up?' Erm... yes. It's the windscreen

Almost beats the one I got years ago when I had the seat up on my Burgman 400 to load some shopping into the storage. A passerby says 'Isn't it uncomfortable riding like that?' I put it back down when I've finished you doofus. I don't ride sitting on a seat sloping forward at a 45 degree angle and with my face inches from the instrument panel

Where do people get these things from? There are still people who don't know helmets have chinstraps. How else is it supposed to stay on in a crash?

[quote
Almost beats the one I got years ago when I had the seat up on my Burgman 400 to load some shopping into the storage. A passerby says 'Isn't it uncomfortable riding like that?' I put it back down when I've finished you doofus. I don't ride sitting on a seat sloping forward at a 45 degree angle and with my face inches from the instrument panel
[/quote]

I think the passer-by may have been winding you up?

Stibbs wrote: ↑Thu May 15, 2025 6:48 pm [quote
Almost beats the one I got years ago when I had the seat up on my Burgman 400 to load some shopping into the storage. A passerby says 'Isn't it uncomfortable riding like that?' I put it back down when I've finished you doofus. I don't ride sitting on a seat sloping forward at a 45 degree angle and with my face inches from the instrument panel

I think the passer-by may have been winding you up?
[/quote]

Maybe. But he seemed to be serious. Plus I couldn't have been loading the storage compartment because scooters (or any other 2-wheelers) don't have them... Or so people believe anyway.

I often think people just don't know how to start the conversation they want.

I don't mind the comical ones that much.

Idiots can wind me up though.

I had a very early Hinkley Bonneville. You used to get queues of people telling you'd they'd ridden one during the war, which we could discuss. You'd also get anoraks determined to tell you some micro-detail was wrong, I feel sorry for them and suggest riding to take their mind off it.

The Ural had a similar issue. Did I know the Soviets stole the German plans or such rubbish? Nope, never heard any variation on that one, pass me that spanner please.

The worst was a group of BMW riders at Europoort who basically ganged up on me to tell me riding a "small bike abroad" was dangerous and shouldn't be allowed. They'd been to Brugge on 1150cc tourers , I'd been to Morocco on an XT600E. Group loopy and wondering if their tens of thousands might have been better spent on train tickets if you ask me, but not worth too much time thinking about it.

Andy

I had several Peugeot Satelis', which had double headlights: one for dipped, the other for main. You can guess the rest.

Do they both come on together?

There's always the 'is it a moped?' question, followed by 'I didn't realise that they did 500cc scooters' from people who've obviously had their head down the loo for the last 25 years!

MrGrumpy wrote: ↑Fri May 16, 2025 4:41 pm There's always the 'is it a moped?' question, followed by 'I didn't realise that they did 500cc scooters' from people who've obviously had their head down the loo for the last 25 years!

Oh yeah, I hate the 'moped' thing. I get it all the time. I think most people come out with it because they don't know what a moped is, and assume that because it has an open frame it's a moped. That and general ignorance. I remember having a conversation with this bloke at work a few years ago:
Me: 'How do you define a moped? Engine size?'
Him: '125?
Me: '50. Maximum speed?'
Him: '60?'
Me: '30'
He had no idea. And I was just grateful he didn't have a 16 year-old son or daughter and bought them a 125 thinking that as it is a moped it is legal for them to ride it. That's if he could get insurance which is highly unlikely. Mind you, if he was that ignorant about bikes it wouldn't surprise me if he thought they didn't need insurance. I find it annoying, but what really boils my p... is when people say it is a moped because it isn't a 150 mph superbike like they have seen racing on the telly. 'Motorbikes are for going fast. Yours can't, so it isn't one, it's a moped.'